"I'm trying to open your mind, Neo, but I can only show you the threshold, you're the one who has to cross it." It is one of the phrases with which Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) guides the 'chosen one' Thomas 'Neo' Anderson (Keanu Reeves) in the discovery of the real world hidden by an apparent reality created by the machines that have reduced humanity to a source of energy. A universe between self-search and revolt explored by The Matrix, the masterpiece by Lana and Lilly Wachowski (who at the time had not made their transition and still signed themselves as Larry and Andy Wachowski) released in the USA 25 years ago, on March 31st 1999. Rejected by Cannes, it immediately became a cult and global success (over 463 million dollars grossed worldwide and four Oscars won for editing, sound, sound editing and special effects) with its mix of science fiction, action, martial arts and philosophy , from Plato to Descartes, from Putnam to Baudrillard.
Video Matrix, 25 years ago the masterpiece of the Wackowski sisters with Keanu Reeves
A journey between free will (with the choice between the blue pill and the red one, to decide between truth or remaining "in wonderland, and you will see how deep the rabbit hole is"), with increasingly current references, between AI and metaverse, which had among the many sources of inspiration also anime such as Ghost in the shell, the future worlds of Philip K. Dick and the cinema of John Woo. The film, supported by an excellent cast which included, in addition to Reeves and Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Gloria Foster and Joe Pantoliano, became the first chapter of a saga with Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions (both 2003) in which Matrix Resurrections signed only by Lana Wachowski was added in 2021. A journey, that of the Matrix, built on how people have always been "looking for the deepest meanings of life. They have never been happy with what they already have. Evolution is based on this search, on the questions they have or minus an answer - explained Lana Wachowski in 1999 -. Even our characters are looking for answers". Lilly Wachowski, on the other hand, clarified in a recent interview with Them one of her sentences from a few years ago, on the fact that The Matrix is a trans allegory: "We didn't start working on it by saying 'come on, let's write a trans allegory', but from wanting to write an action film - he said -. Then in fact it is in that key, because it comes from two trans women who had not yet declared themselves at the time and because it explores the concept of transformation and the search for identity".
A harmony of elements that was based on a long and complex preparation (we started thinking about the film in 1994) starting with the search for the protagonists: Before arriving at Keanu Reeves for Neo we had thought about Will Smith (who said no to film Wild Wild West), but also, among others, to Johnny Depp, Ewan McGregor, Brad Pitt, Nicolas Cage, Val Kilmer (who then also rejected the role of Morpheus, to film 'At First Sight') , David Duchovny. Similarly for the hacker Trinity, before hiring Carrie-Anne Moss the part had been offered to, among others, Sandra Bullock, Madonna. Michelle Yeoh, Janet Jackson and Gillian Anderson. When he read the script "I was struck by the plot, by the ideas and by the way in which the story was told, by the language, by the dialogues - explained Keanu Reeves in an interview on the Golden Globes website -. I thought it was really fantastic. It's a film about questions, about awakening, about consciousness, about love, about support, about faith, about evolution, about man's relationship with machines, about Kung Fu cinema. In a contemporary sense, it presents the traditional classic mythical figures of the hero, the sage, the warriors, the guides, the prophecy, the oracle".
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